NARALOers (-ites?), Hello all, Garth Bruen here. I have also blind-copied several groups who have applied to become an ALS or are in the process of doing so. The meeting time is 1700/5PM Local Time in Singapore which is a 12 hour difference from North American Eastern Time (https://community.icann.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=47253173). As many of you are aware the U.S. Commerce Department recently announced its intent to release ICANN from the long-term contract. While the U.S. could obviously not maintain this forever, these decisions have always been made previously with public consultation. That did not happen this time, which is disappointing, but what is done is done and we must prepare for the future. As ICANN looks to the Global Multi-stakeholders (us) for not only governance but legitimacy, we must take up our expanded role and ensure the transition of Internet management is done with real transparency and accountability. Some of the topics we will be discussing on Monday include 1) Addressing the ongoing issues with ICANN Compliance, 2) Challenges posed by Alternate DNS systems, 3) Efforts to engage the global disabled community, 4) Recruitment of native or aboriginal peoples. These items are only part of ICANN's agenda because WE within the North American At-Large pushed for them. Programs currently in development within ICANN are a direct result of these efforts. I am here to fight for you, but I can only help if you are at the table. Keep bringing me your concerns and issues so they can be inserted into the agenda and developed into policy. Sincerely, Garth ------------------------------------- Garth Bruen gbruen@knujon.com http://www.knujon.com Chair of ICANN At-Large North America (naralo.org) Twitter: @Knujon Skype: gobruen "If history is deprived of the Truth, we are left with nothing but an idle, unprofitable tale" -Polybius